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Tofino By-Law Would Ban Franchises
The District of Tofino is currently drafting a by-law that would ban franchises from setting up shop in the district. The legislation aims to protects the uniqueness of the community. Read more here.Vancouver School Board Introduces High School Sustainability Course
SOLARIS, a 4 credit, year long course in sustainability, is being offered to Vancouver students in grades 11 and 12. The course will focus on a range of topics from housing and transportation to forestry and fisheries. Read more here.Richmond approves $60-million to buy Garden City lands
Although Mayor Malcolm Brodie didn't like the terms of the deal, he said a deal's been brokered with the Musqueam Indian Band and the Canada Lands Company, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to vote against it at this point.
But Brodie made his position clear during the special meeting of council Mionday, in which Coun. Sue Halsey-Brandt participated via conference call.
"It's not the deal I would have made," he said.
Funding cut for B.C. arts, culture, environmental and sports groups for adults
The changes, which are expected to impact hundreds of charities and non-profits across B.C., come as the province cuts the amount of money it provides to community groups out of more than $1 billion in annual gambling, casino and bingo revenue.
Women in the Canadian Economy
As a young woman in Canada, I have not felt discriminated against. Throughout my university career, my gender didn't seem to matter and professors encouraged me to pursue a PhD and the life of an academic as much as any of my male fellow students.
Budget Puts Climate Action on Ice
The Harper government has taken a pause in financing federal action on climate change.
In his budget speech Thursday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was literally silent on the issue – climate change was not mentioned, though the government has in the past described it as one of the major challenges of the age.
Cuts to Ministry of Environment undermining environmental enforcement
The announcement, in BC Budget 2010/11, of $69 million for justice and policing operations ignores the virtual collapse of the enforcement of BC's environmental laws, according to West Coast Environmental Law. The group asserts that past and new cuts to the Ministry of the Environment play a key role in an ongoing drop in enforcement of laws protecting BC's air, water and wildlife, and called for increased funding for environmental law enforcement.
B.C. pollution tests kept under wraps
Extreme levels of a toxic chemical were found in air samples from a Prince George, B.C., neighbourhood more than 18 months ago, but the community still has not been told of the danger, CBC News has learned.Tests performed in the Millar Addition neighbourhood showed formaldehyde levels more than 18 times the acceptable level.
The Environment Ministry gathered the air samples in Prince George in July and August 2008 after years of complaints from residents about bad smells.
In Tight Times, Campbell Gov't Chooses to Help Big Banks
Inept budgeters axed $100 million yearly tax revenue from fat financial institutions. And it gets worse.It used to be said of the New Democrats (when they were in government during the 1990s), that, such was their lack of business and financial expertise, they couldn't run a lemonade stand.
Sadly, with Gordon Campbell and his BC Liberals, British Columbia today has a government whose fiscal acumen is so abysmal, so evidently lacking, that they appear incapable of operating any business enterprise of any size.
School grows greener graduates; Dedicated students teachers staff at Reynolds High School lead way in environmental education
Over the last few years, the Green Spaces Project has gone from concept to reality, with landscaping, gardening and educational activities transforming areas of the school into welcoming and sustainable micro-ecosystems.